Page:On the border with Crook - Bourke - 1892.djvu/180

 learned, while on that march, the name of every plant, animal, and mineral passed near the trail, as well as the uses to which the natives put them, each and all; likewise the habits of the birds, reptiles, and animals, and the course and general character of all the streams, little or big. The Indians evinced an awe for him from the first moment of their meeting; they did not seem to understand how it was that a white man could so quickly absorb all that they had to teach.

In the character of General Crook there appeared a very remarkable tenderness for all those for whose care he in any manner became responsible; this tenderness manifested itself in a way peculiar to himself, and, as usual with him, was never made the occasion or excuse for parade. He was at all times anxious to secure for his men while on campaign all the necessaries of life, and to do that he knew from his very wide experience that there was nothing to compare to a thoroughly organized and well-equipped pack-train, which could follow a command by night or by day, and into every locality, no matter how rocky, how thickly wooded, or how hopelessly desert. He made the study of pack-trains the great study of his life, and had always the satisfaction of knowing that the trains in the department under his control were in such admirable condition, that the moment trouble was threatened in other sections, his pack-trains were selected as being best suited for the most arduous work. He found the nucleus ready to hand in the system of pack-transportation which the exigencies of the mining communities on the Pacific coast had caused to be brought up from Chili, Peru, and the western States of the Mexican Republic.

The fault with these trains was that they were run as money-making concerns, and the men, as well as the animals belonging to them, were in nearly every case employed as temporary makeshifts, and as soon as the emergency had ended were discharged. The idea upon which Crook worked, and which he successfully carried out, was to select trains under the pack-masters who had enjoyed the widest experience, and were by nature best adapted to the important duties they would be called upon to perform. Those who were too much addicted to alcoholic stimulants, or were for other cause unsuited, were as opportunity presented replaced by better material. As with the men, so with the animals; the ill-assorted collections of bony giants and undersized Sonora "rats,"